Saturday, June 02, 2018

How can we make IVF more affordable

1.We need to make
IVF more affordable , because there are millions of Indian infertile couples
who require IVF, but can't pay for it , because it's become so expensive .
Health insurers should cover for IVF treatment, because infertility is the commonest
medical problem which affects young adults in the prime of their life. The return
on investment for this treatment is enormous, because IVF babies become highly productive
citizens in the future , since their parents lavish so much love and care on
them. However, until large corporate ( such as TCS and Infosys) which employ
thousands of young graduates apply pressure on insurers, this is not going to
happen. Hopefully, the war for talent will pressurize their HR departments to force
insurers to do so – just like Google and Facebook have done in the USA. Also, the
government should to offer IVF treatment in government hospitals, so that poor patients also have access to
this.

2.The Holy Grail for
IVF specialists is to improve success rates, so that they become 100 %. We
still have a long way to go , but basic and clinical research in the areas of
vitrification and genetic technology will help us to get there. The advances will
help us to transfer the best embryos, which have the best chances of implanting
and becoming a baby.

3.Finally, we need
to prescribe Information Therapy for patients, so that have realistic expectations of what IVF technology
can do for them. Sadly, there are too many poor quality IVF clinics with dismal
pregnancy rates , who end up taking patients for a ride, and harming everyone
in the IVF field.